Hotel-tax bill that aides Real is OK'd

(by Amelia Nielson-Stowell desnews.com 2-13-06)

A bill that could funnel some $45 million of tourist money for the Real Salt Lake soccer stadium passed committee Monday but not without a fight from legislators, hotel managers and venue owners.

HB371, the Transient Room Taxes Amendments, would allow all counties in the state to levy the 1.25 percent tax on hotel accommodations for tourism projects. Last year, a bill passed granting use of the hotel tax to only Salt Lake County for the expansion of the Salt Palace and a parking garage for the South Towne Expo Center.

A 10-year sunset was placed on that bill, meaning the tax would expire in 2015. But the current bill, sponsored by Rep. David Clark, R-Santa Clara, repeals the sunset and opens use of the tax to Utah's 29 counties.

Although Clark said he proposed the bill to assist with expansion of Washington County's Dixie Convention Center, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon has said the Legislature has made it clear to him that hotel tax money from Salt Lake County should go to a proposed 20,000-seat soccer stadium in Sandy.

However, Jim McNeil, president and founder of United Concerts who runs the USANA amphitheater in West Valley, told the House Business and Labor Committee that it's not fair to subsidize a private stadium to compete with other businesses — including his own.

In addition to soccer, Real officials have said they plan to host concerts and other events in the stadium, which can expand to 30,000 seats.

"Utah is a finite concert market," McNeil said. "A professional soccer stadium will not bring any new concerts to this community that aren't being taken care of by any of the indoor or outdoor facilities. The new soccer stadium, if built, will take business from existing . . . companies."

Numerous members of the Salt Lake Valley Lodging Association spoke out against the bill, as well, although a year ago they were supporting the hotel tax for the specified use on the Salt Palace expansion and South Towne Expo Center parking.

"The reason we were able as an industry to support the increase in the TRT (transient room tax) was because it was going to those purposes and because there was a sunset clause," said Steve Lundgren, vice president of the association and general manager of the downtown Salt Lake Marriott. "We find that this legislation is disturbing and not what we felt in faith happened one year ago."

Hotel representatives felt it wasn't fair to make one industry carry the burden of funding the soccer stadium, but most legislatures agreed businesses would benefit from the MLS stadium's presence. Substitute amendments were brought up to block competing sporting facilities in the same area or keep remove the sunset, but legislators approved the bill 9 to 3.